Dominion of New England

The Dominion of New England was a colony of England that existed from 1686 to 1689, with Boston serving as its capital. The disaster of King Philip's War led to the English crown revoking the Massachusetts Bay Colony's charter in 1684 and incorporating Massachusetts and the other colonies north of Maryland into the "Dominion of New England". Edmund Andros was sent to govern the dominion, and he was supported by some merchants, but most colonists were offended by his flagrant disregard of such Puritan traditions as keeping the Sabbath. In addition, the dominion invalidated all land titles, leading to every landowner in New England being concerned about the future of his lands. When King Charles II of England died in 1685, he was succeeded by his brother James II, a zealous Catholic. James began an aggressive campaign to appoint Catholics to government posts, leading to Protestant Englishmen inviting William, Prince of Orange to seize the English throne in 1688. Rumors of the "Glorious Revolution" led to Bostonian rebels tossing Andros and other officials in jail in 1689, destroying the dominion and restoring the former charter government.